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Its cast also took away best actor, actress, and supporting actress Moas, along with awards for sound and costume design.

Most of the actors on the film - about a bullied dwarf in an isolated Samoan village standing up for himself and family - were non-professionals.

It was Tamasese's debut feature.

Other winners included rock documentary Shihad: Beautiful Machine (best doco director and editing), and drama The Most Fun You Can Dying (soundtrack, cinematography and production design).

The awards, organised by Hugh Sundae of nzherald.co.nz and Ant Timpson and presented by The New Zealand Herald and Rialto Channel, were put in place after the national television awards dropped film categories from its annual prize-giving.

The awards were judged by a panel of more than overseas film-makers, festival programmers and journalists.